Privacy Shields for Whom? Key Actors and Privacy Discourses on Twitter and in Newspapers

Cristín O’Rourke,Aphra Kerr

doi:10.16997/wpcc.264

Abstract

The sharing of data across borders is core in informational economies. However, the Schrems case against Facebook in 2014 raised important questions about the capacity of existing ‘safe harbour’ policies and practices of multinational corporations in Europe and North America to protect the privacy of individuals’ data. The EU–US ‘Privacy Shield’ framework was subsequently developed to increase data privacy protections. This paper draws upon a sample of English language newspapers and Twitter accounts in Europe and the US from the summer of 2016 to identify the key actors and discourses surrounding the introduction of the Privacy Shield framework. The findings reveal a dominance of trade, market and security language, a focus on individual informational privacy and the dominance of state and legal actors. We argue that privacy is not being redefined in the context of intercontinental data transfers but rather narrowed to a neoliberal free trade framing of information privacy.

Highlights

The ability to trade and share user data across borders is part of the dominant social imaginary and everyday practice of contemporary informational economies (Castells, 1996; Mansell, 2012)
The prevalence of Irish newspapers could speak to the relevance of the Privacy Shield in the Irish context whereby its adoption is significant for American multinational companies (MNCs) stationed here
Ireland’s position is notable given the role of the Irish Data Protection Commissioner in the EU, again because of the number of MNCs with headquarters in Ireland, which may account for increased Irish interest

Summary

Introduction

The ability to trade and share user data across borders is part of the dominant social imaginary and everyday practice of contemporary informational economies (Castells, 1996; Mansell, 2012). The Max Schrems case against Facebook in 2014 brought to light the data sharing activities within multinational corporations operating in Europe and North America and raised important questions about the ability and willingness of states and corporations to protect citizen privacy. The EU–US ‘Privacy Shield’ (hereinafter Privacy Shield) framework was developed by the European Commission and the U.S Department of. Key Actors and Privacy Discourses on Twitter and in Newspapers. Whilst the Privacy Shield is enacted as a mechanism of data protection, the informational logic of contemporary society solicits pertinent questions. In this paper we identify actors and discourses in a sample of tweets and newspapers and we focus on public communications surrounding the adoption of the Privacy Shield framework How is privacy framed in the online and offline media coverage of this new policy? Who is active in the debate and who is absent? Is privacy being redefined? In this paper we identify actors and discourses in a sample of tweets and newspapers and we focus on public communications surrounding the adoption of the Privacy Shield framework

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion